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Mugabe, foe shake hands, will hold talks

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Times Staff Writer

President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe and his bitter rival, opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, shook hands for the first time in a decade Monday, agreeing to settle the country’s violent political crisis.

The handshake in Harare, the Zimbabwean capital, came after 120 opposition activists were killed in recent months in state-sponsored violence, thousands were jailed and tens of thousands of opposition supporters were driven from their homes.

The framework for talks between the two men provides a two-week window to reach a viable solution to the crisis despite the deep-seated differences between the sides.

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The agreement commits the ruling ZANU-PF party, the opposition Movement for Democratic Change and a breakaway faction of the MDC to work toward an agreement on an “inclusive government,” but includes no specifics.

The two men met briefly in 1998, a year before Tsvangirai formed the MDC, which went on to become the biggest threat to Mugabe and ZANU-PF.

Mugabe, who clung to power in a widely condemned one-man presidential runoff election June 27, demands recognition as president; the opposition, however, says Tsvangirai won the first-round election between the two March 29.

The West has rejected Mugabe’s victory, and three teams of African election observers condemned the runoff.

The agreement on talks calls for an end to continuing political violence, a key opposition demand, and for a new constitution. It also calls for a sustainable solution to the country’s protracted political crisis.

It comes less than two weeks after the United Nations Security Council rejected tough sanctions on top regime figures, with Russia and China vetoing the resolution.

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The March election saw ZANU-PF lose control of parliament for the first time since Zimbabwe’s independence from Britain in 1980.

Mugabe also polled worse than Tsvangirai in the presidential vote, according to official results, with about 43% to his rival’s 48%.

The opposition claimed the official count was fraudulent and insists that Tsvangirai won 50.3% of the vote, enough to have won the presidency in the first round, eliminating the need for a runoff.

Monday’s meeting was a landmark event partly because of the vehemence with which Mugabe has rejected Tsvangirai, whom he calls a puppet of the West. The president has repeatedly said Tsvangirai will never be allowed to rule the country.

Mugabe did not shake hands with Tsvangirai at the signing ceremony, only afterward when posing for cameras, the Associated Press reported.

Already isolated by the West, Mugabe now faces strong pressure from African states over the election.

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Tsvangirai said Monday’s agreement on talks was only the first step toward a settlement but added that not finding a solution was “not an option.”

With the economy in meltdown, inflation in the stratosphere and unemployment at 80%, the country desperately needs a rescue package, reportedly promised by the West in the event of a substantial political settlement.

Zimbabwe’s reserve bank released a $100-billion note Monday, worth one U.S. dollar on the black market, and likely to see its value swiftly whittled away by hyperinflation, like the $50-billion and $25-billion notes released in recent months.

“We sit here in order for us to chart a new way, a new way of political interaction,” Mugabe said.

Although such words from Mugabe were a sharp departure from his warlike rhetoric during the election campaign, the 84-year-old leader, who has ruled Zimbabwe since 1980, could not resist a jibe at Tsvangirai: He said the two sides shouldn’t be influenced by Europe or America.

The African Union’s chief executive, Jean Ping, and U.N. special envoy to Zimbabwe Haile Menkerios are part of a reference group established to support the talks, a major step toward moderating the MDC’s hostility toward the mediator of the talks, South African President Thabo Mbeki.

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Mbeki was appointed as mediator by a regional body, the Southern African Development Community, but lost the confidence of the MDC because he was seen by the Zimbabwean opposition as biased toward Mugabe. He remains the principal mediator.

Mbeki flew in to Harare on Monday for the signing ceremony, where he was met by a smiling Mugabe. The two shook hands before driving off together in the presidential limousine.

Mbeki later said the agreement committed the sides “to an intense program of work to try and finalize negotiations as quickly as possible.”

Under the framework, talks would focus on the priorities of a new government, including economic stability.

Issues seen as key by the ruling party included discussion of sanctions on ZANU-PF officials and the future of land reform.

The land reform of 2000 was Mugabe’s most controversial policy, and the future of the land was a central theme in the ruling party’s runoff campaign. Under the policy, farms went mainly to generals, security officials and ruling-party cronies. Agricultural production collapsed, triggering a severe foreign currency shortage.

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Regime officials fear the loss of their farms and prosecution for war crimes if power changes hands.

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robyn.dixon@latimes.com

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